Mission Journal: Nicaragua slides backward

Nicaragua's
press freedom conditions have seriously deteriorated in the last year, local
journalists and free press advocates told Americas Senior Program Coordinator Carlos
Lauría and me during a weeklong visit to Managua.
We concluded our mission on Friday and will issue a report next month on the
nation's press conditions.

Our hopes for a meeting with a top government official were dashed
when President Daniel Ortega, his wife (and top advisor) Rosario Murillo, and a
large presidential entourage suddenly embarked for Cuba in mid-week. Though the media initially
reported that Ortega would be gone for 18 days, the Nicaraguan president
returned to his country on Saturday, the Managua-based daily El Nuevo Diario
said.

Ortega, as usual, did not inform the press of his trip. His
itinerary, his agenda, and his health are kept secret. There are rumors, though
nothing confirmed, that his visit to Cuba included medical treatment along
with a meeting with counterpart Raul Castro, below.

While Ortega did not agree to meet with CPJ, we were
fortunate to speak with a number of other government representatives. Among
them were top human rights official Omar Cabezas (who dismissed our concerns about
press freedom conditions) and Supreme Court Vice President Rafael Solís, a close
advisor to Ortega. We also spoke with Dennis Schwartz, general director of the
pro-government radio station Nueva Radio Ya. All of their perspectives
will be included in our report.

Joel Simon is the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. He has written widely on media issues, contributing to Slate, Columbia Journalism Review, The New York Review of Books, World Policy Journal, Asahi Shimbun, and The Times of India. He has led numerous international missions to advance press freedom. His book, The New Censorship: Inside the Global Battle for Media Freedom, will be released November 11, 2014. Follow him on Twitter @Joelcpj. His public GPG encryption key can be found here.

Related Stories

Comments

This is just another sign of the changes that have taken effect in Nicaragua since Daniel Ortega has taken over this once democratic country. It is testimony to his disregard for human rights, the democratic process, and his firm intent on establishing a dictatorship.